Holder for paper cups



May 23, 1950 H. CAREW HOLDER FOR PAPER CUPS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 Patented May 23, 1950 STATES ears-m coerce;

HOLDER FOR PRPER? GUYS .Hermani Garew; Easton, Ba assignor to Dixie)- Gupycompany Ghicago,,Ill:, a oorporation 'of:

Delaware Application Gotcha-"29; 19 45; Serial-" N6? 625334 3? wherein individual soft drinks, sodas; and. the

lil ie are" dispensed, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be app'a r ent't'o one skilledin'the art.

It is desiraidletouse paper drinking: cups; soda; cups; and the likein holders in locations where sodas"; softui'inks; andsimilarcoimnodities are individually dispensed to the customers. The paper cups are destroyed aftera" singleusageand arose-economical as to warrant'sucmpracticeand at thesame time'afi'ect'a-materialsav ing over the" previous practice of lltl'llZingi glasswarewhichhad to be thoroughly cleansed after each usage and *was" subj ectto breakage of course,- itis=desirable to insure'thepaper cup' rem'aini'ng in=tlie ho1der until it is filled with the particular commodity; and until t-hat-commodity has been consumed by the customer. Means to maintain the cup in the holder must be providedwithout providing any movable parts upon the "holder that must" be operated in" acert'ain Way bythe clerk orattendant'. Likewise; theholder' must be of such construct-ion that it may be thoroughly cleansed; although cleansingo'f-' the holder'need only-'be'- done at infrequent intervals and not after eachserving: of a soda or thelike. economical construction and preferablyof' a sub- Sta-man unbreakablecharacter. In short; the holder'should' ldeof such character ast'o he cam-- b'le off Being dropped upon" the fioon' without in" and further of such character as tot-effectively grip a" cup when the; holder isi merely pressed into position over a stack of invented cups.

With the foregoing iii-mind; it is=anobjeot"of the; instant invention to 1 providea" cup holder capable of automatically'eflecting-a gripping' acfthan upona paper cup by the mere axial-dispasition of the: holder oven the: cup, and. which holder: may beEVer-y economically-manufactured:

Another object" of this? invention is. the: pro-- vision' of a=paper cup holder equippedwith'means for automatically gripping a paper cup sub= stantially entirely-therearound;

It is also an obj'ectiof this inventionito provide a paper: cup holder? having a recess' for "the: reception' of a paperwcup; withwmeansf-defining a serrated edge: projecting: into: the recess poi sitiontoztautomatically'amizgrippinglyr engage the sidewall oi;a.cup:-

addition, the holder must be of" Alsoraafeaturef ot'this' in ention is the provision offal paper: ciip holderl having a cavity. forrreceiving'ai cup, with means projeoting-rinwardlyinto thatioavitwtorcontactwthe'oup wall; said means having: a-itortuousi edge toiinsur'e a: gripping 1 action upon the 611p;

It iSiEI'SO W'fBQItME 'Ofthis finvention tozprovide' aihoider forraeconica-llpapemcup; .theiholder. hawingi a1 generally conical-l recess therein for receiving the cup apexzfirstathe IBCESS HaViHg-EBM open bottom through which the: apical! portion off the cup may extend; and there being an in in thezholder projeetingzirrto therrecess-inean theiapieal-iportion withzthe insertvprovidedzwith at tortuous inside" edge to affect a gripping: en'- gag ementiwithitheawalmf thefcup;

Still another 'obJecn-ofthe instant invention is the provisiomof' 22 plastic. our? holder: having: a recessrfor ti-imreception ofza paper -cup; and-a .mee tall-it: insert embedded sin :t'he wall 1 of) the: holder; thesinsert .b'eingsin the general form I of z ametallic r-ingr with theiinner-r edge" of the ring: having" a saw-toothed? configuration: for: gripping: engage ment with the cup walla Still :aifurtheriteature :of thezinstant invention resides: 111421113 provision; of a: lastic; cup holder of :geneially'houn-glas'sr contour, and having; a generallyeconicalxrecess fon the receptionl of a conical: paper cup apex; first; the recess being openlat the bottom and thesholder=-beingprovided with 1 aimetallicx fiati ring; insertat the: lowen end on'theereoess ath'e insert-having an=inners annular sawttoothediedgeffor gripping engagement with theewalliof the-tconicalcup near the+apex thereof so as to retain the cup" in the-holder: against accidentaladislodgment'.

Whilesome otlthe morezsalient: features; characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have" been: above-- pointed out, others will becomerapparent from I the following disclosures, taken in conjunction: with the: accompanying drawingzinwhicht Figure 1: isa central vertical: sectional view througha cup holdera embodying. principles 1 of the: instant invention -showing; asoda cup in elevationpositionedinlitheholder andgrippingly engaged by theeholden;

Figure? is aabottomaplanrview of the holder: of Figure 14;. and- Y Figure-3 isiaigreatly enlarged view of the righth'and' portion-of Figure: 11 at the throat. of the holder; .sl'mwingv the cup insection:

As: shown ron'the drawings:

In the: illustrateds-embodimentof this invention, there-iwshown a cu l-holder that is-genenally of hour-glass shape and which includes a body portion I and a base portion 2 preferably integral with the body portion. The holder is preferably molded out of a suitable thermosetting plastic, that plastic commonly known as Bakelite being one satisfactory plastic for this purpose.

The body portion I is provided with a generally conical cavity or recess 3 for the reception of a conical paper cup apex first. The cavity 3 is open at the bottom so the apical portion of the cup may extend through the opening into the hollow base portion of the holder.

In the illustrated instance, I have shown a conical paper cup 4 seated in the holder. This cup is of the type made from a single blank of stock convolutely wound into conical shape'and provided with a rim bead 5 around the mouth. As seen clearly in Figure l, the cup projects well without the holder at the top thereof so that the contents of the cup may be drunk by a consumer without danger of the consumers lips touching the holder itself. There is also little danger of any of the commodity placed in the cup spilling over on the holder during filling of the cup, by virtue of the wide mouth of the cup. Thus, the holder need only be cleansed at infrequent intervals because it does not become soiled at every use, and yet there is no lack of sanitation insofar as the consumer is concerned.

In the present instance, in order to insure the cup remaining in the holder against accidental dislodgment, I have provided an insert in the holder, indicated by numeral 6. The insert is preferably disposed in the throat of the holder, and in the illustrated instance, the insert is at the bottom of the cup-receiving cavity 3. As seen best in Figure 2, the insert is in the form of a flat ring and is preferably made of metal. The inside edge of this ring is serrated or sawtoothed as indicated at I and this serrated edge projects inwardly suiiiciently far to exert a gripping engagement upon the wall of the cup 4 in the apical region of the cup.

The insert 6 may be positioned so as to be molded in the holder at the time the holder is formed. Thus, the insert preferably becomes a permanent part of the holder. As seen in the drawing, one method of holding the insert in position is to mold a bead 9 in the hollow portion of the base of the holder below the insert so that a marginal portion of the insert is disposed above the bead or flange 9 while the upper face of the insert is seated against the inner wall of the hollow base around the open bottom of the cup-receiving cavity 3. Thus, the insert in effect forms a continuation of the cup-receiving cavity.

- In use, the present invention is exceedingly simple, and yet quite positive in its action. Assuming that it is desired to position a cup in the holder and serve a soda or the like, the attendant merely grasps the inverted holder by the base, and seats it firmly on the uppermost one of a stack of inverted nested cups. Then the attendant, keeping its hold on the bottom of the holder, merely raises the holder and rights it, the cup being held in the holder by virtue of the insert 6 and carried along with the holder against accidental dislodgment by draughts or other causes. The cup is then filled with the desired commodity and served to the purchaser. The purchaser may drink from the cup, without any danger of the cup becoming accidentally dislodged and cascading down over the wearing apparel of the cus- 4 tomer. After the drink has been consumed, the holder and cup still firmly held by the holder may be returned by the attendant to a place where the cup may be pulled from the holder and dropped into a waste receptacle. Thus, if service is outside, there is no danger of the wind blowing the cups from the holder prior to filling or after the consuming of the drink. Likewise, there is no danger of the customer soiling his wearing apparel by the cup inadvertently falling out of the holder during use. It will be especially noted that at no time during the use of the holder and the serving of a drink does the attendants hands 1 come in contact with the cup itself. Further, it

will be especially noted that there are no operating or movable parts for the attendant to waste time manipulating in order to firmly seat the cup in the holder. There is very little, if any, more eifort on the part of the attendant to pick up the holder, and engage a cup therein, than there would be if the attendant picked up the customary and heretofore commonly used glass. From the greatly enlarged showing in Figure 3, it will be noted that when the cup is seated in the holder, the serrations or teeth "I tend to bitingly or grippingly engage the wall of the cup, and each of these teeth will make a slight indentation in the wall of the cup as indicated at Ill in Figure 3. However, the teeth do not project inwardly sufficiently far to actually puncture the cup well, regardless of whether the teeth strike a double or single thickness portion of the wall. The biting engagement of the teeth illustrated in Figure 3 tends to effectively resist removal of the cup, and such engagement is suificient to effectively prevent accidental dislodgment of the cup, although it is a simple expedient to grasp the mouth end of a used cup by the hand and pull it from the holder, or by inserting the thumb in the bottom of the holder to dislodge the cup by pressing against the apex thereof.

It will be understood, of course, that the holder need not of necessity be molded from plastic material, although that is a commercially satisfactory way of making the holder. Likewise, the insert 6 need not necessarily be of metal, but if it is of metal as preferred, it is of a non-rusting metal or a metal treated to resist rust.

It should also be noted that it is not essential that each and every one of the saw-teeth l actually bitingly or grippingly engage the cup wall. It is suificient if a few of these teeth so engage the cup wall, but the provision of an annular series of such teeth insures a sufficient number of teeth engaging the cup wall to adequately hold the cup within the holder. It will also be noted that the teeth need not engage any edge portion of the cup such as an upper surface of a convolution, and that the teeth will equally as effectively engage a cup havin no convolutions.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a highly efiicient, simple, and very economical form of cup holder capable of not only picking up a cup without any special manipulation of the holder or any part of it, but also capable of gripping that cup so as to sustain it within the holder against accidental dislodgment. It will be noted that the holder is very durable, substantially unbreakable in ordinary usage, and may be very thoroughly and easily cleansed whenever that becomes necessary.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range Without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the pur-.

pose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A holder for a conical paper cup having a tubular portion of generally conical shape to receive therein a conical paper cup apex first, and a rigid fixed disc-like insert in said holder having a laterally saw-tooth edge projecting inwardly sufliciently to grippingly engage the cup wall and retain the cup in said tubular portion against accidental dislodgement.

2. A holder for a conical paper cup, said holder being made of a plastic material and of generally hour-glass shape, said holder having a generally conical recess for the reception of a conical paper cup apex first, said recess having an open bottom through which the apex of the cup extends, and a metallic centrally apertured disc-like insert in the throat of said holder having an edge portion projecting inwardly to engage the wall of a cup, said edge portion being laterally tortuous to enhance the gripping action of said insert on the cup upon a relative axial movement only between the cup and holder.

HERMAN CAREW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 187,766 Merrill Feb. 27, 1877 273,726 Griggs Mar. 13, 1883 913,336, Westerbeck Feb. 23, 1909 1,139,018" Curtin May 11, 1915- 1,139,580 j Rike et a1 May 18, 1915 1,189,024 White June 27, 1916' 1,239,2'7'll Klin Sept. 4, 1917 1,389,594 Moore Sept. 6, 1921 1,489,698 Curtin Apr. 8, 1924 1,493,421 Barker May 6, 1924] 2,323,356 Rosay July 6, 1943{ 2,329,512 Clifiord, Jr Sept. 14, 1943-- 2,333,090 Carew Nov. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,895 Great Britain May 9, 1896 

